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The director of a retail store is not to be regarded as a senior executive within the meaning of Section 5 (3) of the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG), even if she is authorized to hire and fire staff independently. This was decided by the Regional Labor Court of Hessen (‘LAG Hessen’) in a ruling...

Preventing money laundering and terrorist financing has become a constant concern for lawmakers. In Germany alone, the Money Laundering Act has been revised sixteen times since 2020. The EU is also taking action, introducing significant new regulations in recent months. These rules no longer just apply to banks and financial institutions – now, professional soccer...

If a European Company (Societas Europea – SE) is established, a so-called negotiation procedure must generally be carried out with regard to the involvement of employees in this company in accordance with the provisions of the SE Participation Act (SEBG, i.e. the German implementing act to the Council Directive 2001/86/EC). At the end of this...

A number of legislative changes have come into force since the beginning of the year, with more to follow in the course of 2025. Some legislative initiatives that were expected to take effect at the beginning of 2025 remain unimplemented due to the failure of the federal government. It is unclear whether and how these...

A provision in a collective agreement that requires the regular working hours of a full-time employee to be exceeded for overtime pay, regardless of the individual working hours, treats part-time employees less favorably than comparable full-time employees due to their part-time work and violates the prohibition of discrimination against part-time employees, according to the Federal...

Shareholder resolutions passed at a meeting convened by an unauthorized person are null and void. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (“BGH”) for a partnership company. Facts of the case The ruling of the BGH was based on the following facts: The plaintiff was a partner (i.e. shareholder) of a partnership company...

If an employee spreads threats against ver.di via a private Facebook group comprising 1,000 colleagues, this justifies the ordinary termination of his employment relationship. This was decided by the Berlin Labor Court in a ruling dated October 7, 2024 (Ref. 59 Ca 8733/24 and 59 Ca 11420/24). Facts of the case The judgment of the...

According to a decision by the Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht, “BAG”), an impermissible temporary assignment of employees may also exist if an employee has been assigned to another group company for several years since the beginning of the employment relationship. Facts of the case The ruling of the BAG of November 12, 2024 (9 AZR...

In its ruling of November 28, 2024 – C-293/23 – the European Court of Justice is likely to have put an end to a popular energy supply option as well as a long-simmering dispute between the higher courts of the federal states. The construction of the self-consumption facility as a privileged network for smaller, decentralized...

The Baden-Württemberg Regional Labor Court (LAG) follows the case law of the Federal Labor Court (BAG), according to which a direct claim of a released works council member can arise from Section 78 sentence 2 of the Works Constitution Act (“BetrVG”) in conjunction with Section 611a (2) of the German Civil Code (“BGB”) if the...